Antennae Options

[Hughie]

I am running ImmersionRC 600 to a 7 channel Black Pearl, with Spironets at each end.

What effects in terms of range and signal quality would I see if I changed one or either for pinwheel(s) or helical.

Under what circumstances do they need to be a matching pair.

Thanks.

 

[jason]

I am running ImmersionRC 600 to a 7 channel Black Pearl, with Spironets at each end.

What effects in terms of range and signal quality would I see if I changed one or either for pinwheel(s) or helical.

Under what circumstances do they need to be a matching pair.

Thanks.

The other day i flew with both stock antennas on my receiver and had allot of video dropouts. The next day I switch to the two clover leaf antennas with far fewer dropouts. But being a videographer I'm flying great distances and only use the monitor for framing shots.

 

[dptcalvin]

What effects in terms of range and signal quality would I see if I changed one or either for pinwheel(s) or helical.

It's really quite impossible to say as each experience is individual depending on the location and amount of interference present.

 

[QYV]

What effects in terms of range and signal quality would I see if I changed one or either for pinwheel(s) or helical.

It's really quite impossible to say as each experience is individual depending on the location and amount of interference present.

absolutely true, however some generalizations are accurate... naturally you want an omnidirectional antenna on the transmitter, such as a pinwheel, cloverleaf, etc. because you want the signal OUTPUT in all directions.

Now on the receiver side, omnidirectional antennas work great at short range (up to a few hundred meters) but generally aren't going to go really long distance. Under OPTIMAL conditions with FPVLR premium antennas I got a little over 600m using only a pinwheel (and remember, I've got a super nice pentalobe transmit antenna).

If you want to go long distance (say over 500m) you simply have to go to a longer range "directional" antenna like a helix. Helix and other directional long range antennas have to remain pointed at the Phantom (FPV transmitter technically) but they can snipe a much weaker signal out of the air but need to be pointed at the transmitter.

theoretically you don't need exactl matching pairs of anything, as broadcast signal is broadcast signal any antenna should be able to pick it up. You do need to be careful about LHCP vs RHCP and don't mix those... if your Tx is RHCP then make sure your Rx is RHCP as well.

Hughie, I think what you want to hear is that you should be able to simply get a helix antenna, hook it to your receiver and get much better FPV range... and that is indeed true.

 

[Hughie]

What effects in terms of range and signal quality would I see if I changed one or either for pinwheel(s) or helical.

It's really quite impossible to say as each experience is individual depending on the location and amount of interference present.

absolutely true, however some generalizations are accurate... naturally you want an omnidirectional antenna on the transmitter, such as a pinwheel, cloverleaf, etc. because you want the signal OUTPUT in all directions.

Now on the receiver side, omnidirectional antennas work great at short range (up to a few hundred meters) but generally aren't going to go really long distance. Under OPTIMAL conditions with FPVLR premium antennas I got a little over 600m using only a pinwheel (and remember, I've got a super nice pentalobe transmit antenna).

If you want to go long distance (say over 500m) you simply have to go to a longer range "directional" antenna like a helix. Helix and other directional long range antennas have to remain pointed at the Phantom (FPV transmitter technically) but they can snipe a much weaker signal out of the air but need to be pointed at the transmitter.

theoretically you don't need exactl matching pairs of anything, as broadcast signal is broadcast signal any antenna should be able to pick it up. You do need to be careful about LHCP vs RHCP and don't mix those... if your Tx is RHCP then make sure your Rx is RHCP as well.

Hughie, I think what you want to hear is that you should be able to simply get a helix antenna, hook it to your receiver and get much better FPV range... and that is indeed true.

Thanks for this advice. The 4.5 turn Helix from FPVLR has made a big difference